A squirrel running on the roof above my head: the rhythm of hoofbeats in the paintings of horses from when they were still thought to bound.
The view from my front porch first thing in the morning, in 140 or fewer characters.
Monthly Archives: May 2009
A chipmunk appears on the flat...
A chipmunk appears on the flat stone beside the porch and stares at me as I hum Shostokovich, its cheeks bulged wide as Dizzy Gillespie’s.
Tagged chipmunks, wood thrush
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After decades of segregation by...
After decades of segregation by color, the irises in my garden seem to have interbred: beside the porch, yellow petals with purple wings.
Tagged iris
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Pale bones of the dead elm, standing...
Pale bones of the dead elm, standing at the edge of the yard like an emissary from Lent amidst a Mardi Gras of green, reach into fog.
Tagged elm, fog
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Fog. The ants who tend the peony...
Fog. The ants who tend the peony buds have been replaced by drops of water—all but one, who moves slow as an astronaut on a strange planet.
Tagged ants, fog, peony
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Soft taps from a burdock leaf...
Soft taps from a burdock leaf under the drip line: it’s raining. A rose-breasted grosbeak drops into the springhouse marsh to get a drink.
Tagged robin, springhouse
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Heavy traffic on the driveway:...
Heavy traffic on the driveway: a baby bunny races back and forth, followed by a strolling pair of catbirds and a robin’s methodical hop.
Tagged catbird, robin
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For an hour now, the red-bellied...
For an hour now, the red-bellied woodpecker has been trilling almost non-stop: half yell, half peal. Fleabane blooms beside the sidewalk.
The lilacs are fading fast. Where...
The lilacs are fading fast. Where did the spring go? A hummingbird moth pays court to the dame’s-rockets—the new avatars of purple scent.
The Cooper’s hawk chases...
The Cooper’s hawk chases a redtail out of the woods—guided missile, staccato cry—and lands in a tall yard tree. The first yellow iris.
Tagged Cooper's hawk, iris, robin
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A female indigo bunting drops...
A female indigo bunting drops into the cherry tree to snack on tiny tent caterpillars, reaching daintily into their vase-shaped nest.
A new birdsong at sunrise: “...
A new birdsong at sunrise: “Pleased pleased pleased to MEETcha!” Likewise, I mutter, trying to place the name. Ah—chestnut-sided warbler.
Tagged squirrels, sunrise
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Strong sun, and the air so clear...
Strong sun, and the air so clear, I can see the tiniest floating krill. A cranefly seems enormous—until a pileated woodpecker flops in.
Half a degree above freezing at...
Half a degree above freezing at sunrise, and the sky is as clear as it gets. A towhee sings a backwards version of its song.
Tagged sunrise, towhee
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A red-eyed vireo beside the porch...
A red-eyed vireo beside the porch with his back to the cold wind, neck feathers buffeted into a crest, singing in the weak sunlight.
Tagged nuthatch, red-eyed vireo
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A phoebe hovers beside its nest...
A phoebe hovers beside its nest under the springhouse eaves, then lands above it, bug still in beak, tail like a tapping foot: ah, marriage.
Tagged phoebe, springhouse
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Sun through fog. Animals emerge...
Sun through fog. Animals emerge and vanish like actors in a play, bringing their cries and silences: goldfinches, a raven, a pair of deer.
Tagged deer, fog, goldfinches, raven, scarlet tanager
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A pair of tanagers foraging in...
A pair of tanagers foraging in the rain. The scarlet male trails the drab female onto a branch two feet from the porch, returning my gaze.
Tagged scarlet tanager
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Two male indigo buntings, twice...
Two male indigo buntings, twice as blue as the sky, clash in the air and land on adjacent branches. One sings, the other flies off.
April’s solitary vireo and...
April’s solitary vireo and brown thrasher have been replaced by red-eyed vireo and catbird—an adagio movement giving way to an allegro.
Squabbling squirrels just in from...
Squabbling squirrels just in from the edge of the woods are almost invisible among the new leaves, except for a gray tail’s flicker.
Tagged squirrels
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Backlit by the morning sun: new...
Backlit by the morning sun: new leaves, the wings of a vulture, my mother’s t-shirts flapping like irreverent prayer flags on the line.
Tagged turkey vultures
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Glimpses of a tanager, a catbird...
Glimpses of a tanager, a catbird, two goldfinches, and a hummingbird taking a shit. Each tree is still in possession of its own green.
Tagged catbird, goldfinches, hummingbird, robin, scarlet tanager
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Up half the night watching the...
Up half the night watching the moon, I start the day by clearing a dead tree that collapsed onto the road, blocking the meter reader man.
I breathe deeply each time the...
I breathe deeply each time the white lilac’s scent wafts across the yard. Behind it, through the half-leafed-out trees, shards of white sky.
Tagged lilac
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The gray winter pelts of two grazing...
The gray winter pelts of two grazing deer are just beginning to fray. The fog withdraws into the woods and the webs of grass spiders.
Tagged deer, fog
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All these songs I haven’...
All these songs I haven’t heard for nine months—it’s like a recurring dream in which birds from the tropics suddenly show up in our woods.
Every morning the green is a little...
Every morning the green is a little more intense as May turns slowly into Will. Just audible over the rain, some distant motor’s steady hum.
Male and female cardinal meet...
Male and female cardinal meet beak-to-beak in the middle of the driveway. He sings, she gives him a seed or bit of grit, and they fly off.
Tagged cardinal
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Warm rain. The wood thrushes have...
Warm rain. The wood thrushes have returned to sing at the edge of the woods for another year. It’s almost possible to believe in redemption.
Tagged wood thrush
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